A Cloud Chamber at ISAE-SUPAERO

ISAE-SUPAERO just received a brand new Cloud Chamber to observe the ambient natural radioactivity. You will find it in the main lobby of the DEOS department.

Let's take a look and see the invisible!

What is a cloud chamber? Cloud chambers are devices used to visualize particles of ionizing radiation. These particles are very small and move at high speed which makes them impossible to see with a naked eye.

How does it work? The bottom of the chamber is cooled down to -30°C. In the upper part of the chamber, a groove is filled with alcohol which evaporates thanks to a heating wire. The alcohol vapors diffuse from the upper and warmer top region towards the cold chamber floor forming a layer of supersaturated alcohol vapor (thickness approx. 3 - 5 mm). In this region, particles of ionizing radiation produce a track of charged particles acting as condensation spots and leading to the formation of a cloud of alcohol visible for the human eye. This phenomenon is similar to the formation of a water cloud called contrail (condensation trails) when a jet plane passes through a supersaturated region in the atmosphere.

The ambient natural radioactivity comprises many different Ionizing particles which can be distinguished from one another by the shape of their traces in the cloud chamber.

ISAE-SUPAERO acquires this amazing cloud chamber thanks to a close collaboration with Nuclétude, an ArianeGroup subsidiary. The company is responsible for the hardening of France's strategic systems to the effects of radiation.